Manitoba Indigenous Writers Festival pits Cree against Anishinaabe

Niigaanwewidam Sinclair is ready for the cage match. (courtesy of the author)

Case in point: both Cree and Anishinaabe refer to themselves as "the people." Exactly.You can cut the tension with pemmican.

—Niigaanwewidam Sinclair, Anishinaabe writer

Oh, it's on.

For centuries the Anishinaabe (Saulteaux/Ojibway) and Cree have been close friends here in Manitoba. Some might say allies.

We've lived together, intermarried, and co-signed treaties. We share land, ceremonies, and in some places, a culture.

For example, I'm the product of a long history of Anishinaabe/Cree intermixing. Everyone is my cousin.

Just under the surface though, there's always been that little bit of tension. Elders say we help each other but I've witnessed the subtle glances when one of us calls bingo, the hushed whispers about which one of us is more handsome and beautiful, and the faces made behind people's backs when they take the last piece of bannock.

Case in point: both Cree and Anishinaabe refer to themselves as "the people." Exactly.You can cut the tension with pemmican.

Anishinaabe and Cree have an all-too-comfortable relationship, like a simmering pot of hot stew.

Well, at the Manitoba Indigenous Writers Festival, this stew is ready to boil over.

In the Urban Shaman art gallery on Friday, Oct. 12 from 7-10 p.m., four accomplished and brave word artists will square off in a cage-match for the ages. On Team Cree is Rosanna Deerchild and Neal McLeod, who traditionally declared war via Facebook. On Team Shnaab is Marie Annharte Baker and David McLeod, who have been carving their Intro to Native Studies textbooks into spears.

I'll be calling this night right down the middle - as host.

It's gonna be messy. At stake? Bragging rights. Forever.

And who will judge this epic competition? The Métis. I've heard whispers that Louis Riel is even making an appearance.

Someone call the ancestors, Treaty One will never be the same.

And while you're making plans, check out the rest of the events at the Manitoba Indigenous Writers Festival (MIWF) this week. There's a night honouring residential school stories (Oct. 11, Thursday evening, at Millennium Library), free workshops and panels (Oct. 13, Saturday daytime, at Millennium and St. John's Library), and an open mic/music night (Oct. 13, Saturday evening, at Urban Shaman).